Polestar upgrade

[darbs]

Originally Posted by Ransman

I was seriously looking at a box from these guys for my Zafira until I found out the insurance was going to cost a lot more.

http://www.diesel-performance.co.uk/...el-tuning.html

From the many testimonials, mpg appears to be markedly improved.

on a sample quote, i was only quoted a 3% rise in premium (admiral i think) for the polestar addition (i don't have it - was just checking). that said, i imagine some insurance companies don't do or highly resist mods - even if they are approved.

[Ransman]

Originally Posted by darb

on a sample quote, i was only quoted a 3% rise in premium (admiral i think) for the polestar addition (i don't have it - was just checking). that said, i imagine some insurance companies don't do or highly resist mods - even if they are approved.

IIRC it was around £70 extra for me and it would never pay back. I wanted it to save money. If you wanted it for the extra driving pleasure it would be a different story.

[darbs]

Originally Posted by Ransman

If you wanted it for the extra driving pleasure it would be a different story.

true. for me, more power is responsiveness and safety related e.g. avoiding danger. that said, not sure it would change the mid-range turbo lag, e.g. when you boot it from 50 to 70.

[Ransman]

Originally Posted by darb

true. for me, more power is responsiveness and safety related e.g. avoiding danger. that said, not sure it would change the mid-range turbo lag, e.g. when you boot it from 50 to 70.

I tried getting quotes from other insurance companies but found that Churchill were by far the cheapest for me so it was just a non-starter.

[darbs]

Originally Posted by Ransman

I tried getting quotes from other insurance companies but found that Churchill were by far the cheapest for me so it was just a non-starter.

fair enough!

[robg]

not wishing to create argument but i rica re mapped my previous D5 (V50 180 bhp to 220ish) and got consistently 5-10% better fuel economy and better torque. When a volvo dealer software upgrade for DPF over wrote it the difference in fuel use and performance was huge, even my wife noticed....
Only reason i didnt get it re done was because i was selling the car anyway.
I wouldn't consider a tuning box but you can feel a good remap even on 1/4 throttle.

[darbs]

Originally Posted by robg

not wishing to create argument but i rica re mapped my previous D5 (V50 180 bhp to 220ish) and got consistently 5-10% better fuel economy and better torque. When a volvo dealer software upgrade for DPF over wrote it the difference in fuel use and performance was huge, even my wife noticed....
Only reason i didnt get it re done was because i was selling the car anyway.
I wouldn't consider a tuning box but you can feel a good remap even on 1/4 throttle.

was your warranty affected by not going for the volvo approved upgrade? also, i think it's important to note the polestar upgrade ups the torque to the torque limit for the xc60 transmission - 440nm (not sure if that applies to the v50), so it's necessary to be careful when applying chip mods.

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by darb

he's saying that volvo will have already tuned the car as efficiently as possible. there won't be any benefits. in fact it will be worse because you'll be taking advantage of the extra horses by having a heavier right foot.

i'm paraphrasing, so if you don't agree, don't shoot the messenger!

I thought that was what he was trying to say, but wanted confirmation before I said he was wrong

I know from experience (same as Ransman) that I got a reasonable improvement on my v70 after a retune compared to the 'standard' Volvo tuning. I calculated that I was getting 9% over 20,000 miles. The mid range power was considerably improved.

I have not had it done to the XC60 (yet) as insurance companies are now aware of these retunes and are upping the premiums, whereas I never told them on the v70

The 'standard' factory tune does not take into account the variations in engine and certainly does not take into account after the engine is 'worn in'. I created a spreadsheet (can't find it at the moment) that showed the mileage you needed to do to recover the cost of an upgrade - with the current fuel price it will be a lot less - I will recreate the sheet if I can't find, otherwise I will post it here.

[robg]

I dont think a chip upgrade can take into account engine variations of being worn in either.
The chip re map is still off the shelf and common for all xc60s. You would need a custom rolling road remap for the above i think.

[wimorrison]

Here you go, a spreadsheet that will let you calculate how many months it will take you to recover the installation cost of the upgrade - assuming it is increased economy that you want

There are 3 variables that you can enter

a) cost of the upgrade
b) the miles that you cover annually
c) the current average MPG that you get WITHOUT the upgrade

Quite scary, and what I haven't done is add the cost of the insurance premium uplift - you could include this in the upgrade cost (or at least the first year)

Hope it helps